22.1.12

A Different Kind of Hate -- Newt Gingrich

Rarely has a politician lived up to his name like Newt Gingrich. His first name speaks for itself. His last name sounds a little too much like "grinch," as in the guy who stole Christmas. And yet, despite his long, undisputed record of personal failings that seem okay only when he's engaging in them, South Carolina Republicans love him.

South Carolina is important to Republicans. It is a "Red State." More importantly, the person who wins the primary there goes on to win to Republican nomination historically. Gingrich understands this, and when his ex-wife came out saying that, essentially, Newt loved the ladies, he knew this was going to come up in the debate.

Gingrich loves to hold others up to ethical scrutiny. He does not like to be held up to the same standards. He does not think he should be called a hypocrite for going after Clinton (and in a sense he has a bit of point, as you can read here). At the very least, however, he should've come clean and/or reclused himself from the attack. But his affairs isn't the only unethical thing he's done.

In 1997 the Washington Post reported that Gingrich, South Carolina primary winner, used tax-deductible for political purposes and then gave investigators "inaccurate" information about it. In other words, he stole money and lied. After being caught, Gingrich admitted he had violated House rules. There are those who say he was just reckless, but make no mistake. Gingrich is not an idiot. He knew what he was doing and he took steps to cover it up. That's not reckless. That's intentional.

Gingrich plays fast and loose with ethics, both personal and financial. He pays lip service to a lot of things, but his personal philosophy is, "Do as I say, not as I do." And when he gets called on this, he acts indignant, blames others and plays a victim. I would not go so far as to say he is mentally unbalanced, but he is manipulative, and South Carolina showed it loves manipulation.

This God-fearing man, the one who has engaged in affairs and has lied to investigators (another comparison to Clinton), continues to blame the "elite media," and people are lapping it up. This is a man they think would make an ideal president. He has all the personal failings of one, but I would suspect that if people really started to think about what they were doing they may find that they want more.

Remember this, Gingrich has admitted to his failings ... but only after being caught, and only after he has tried to hide them. Well, at least he's not black, right?﻿